Nine months after the death of her grandson, Kevin Kowalcyk, of complications from E coli 0157:H7, Patricia Buck of Pine Township is continuing her fight for food safety.

Mrs. Buck and her family have put together a grassroots movement to encourage legislation on food safety issues to prevent illness. She said she and her family started the campaign because she said they couldn’t fight corporate lobbying groups on their own.

"What I’m trying to get across is how important it is to have safe food, because we are now in the E coli season, especially for children," Mrs. Buck said.

Kevin died last August of hemolytic uremic syndrome, an outcome of E coli 0157:H7 infection. The source of the deadly bacteria still has not been traced, but his parents have learned that six other cases of E coli have been identified as an identical DNA match to the strain that infected Kevin, Mrs. Buck said.

Since Kevin’s death, Mrs. Buck has been to Washington, D.C., twice to try to get co-sponsors for the Meat and Poultry Pathogen Reduction and Enforcement Act of 2002, which was introduced in March.

She was scheduled to return to Washington, D.C., on May 20 to speak with U.S. Rep. Phil English and Sen. Arlen Specter about co-sponsoring the bill.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, but is languishing for lack of co-sponsors, Mrs. Buck said.

The bill was drafted after a December 2001 Supreme Court verdict wiped out a 1996 food safety regulation introduced when several young children died of E coli complications in the early 1990s after eating hamburgers from the fast-food restaurant chain Jack-in-the-Box. The verdict took away the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s enforcement tool of shutting down a plant, Mrs. Buck said.

Part of the grassroots movement Mrs. Buck and her daughter and son-in-law, Barbara and Mike Kowalcyk, started includes a petition to Congress to co-sponsor the bill.

"As a consumer, I am concerned about the safety of the meat supply. Please take a stand for public health by co-sponsoring the Meat and Poultry Pathogen Reduction and Enforcement Act of 2002 introduced in March 2002," the petition reads. "I want the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be able to set and enforce standards for harmful bacteria in meat and poultry products such as E coli 0157:H7, which can be deadly to young children, and Listeria monocytogenes, which can cause miscarriages."

As of May 10, Mrs. Buck had received about 100 signatures, she said.

With the help of Safe Tables Our Priority and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Mrs. Buck and her daughter are also starting a pilot program in the schools in Mt. Horeb, Wis., where the Kowalcyks live, in which students write letters and draw pictures asking for food safety laws. Mrs. Kowalcyk plans to deliver the letters and pictures in person in August to Washington, D.C., Mrs. Buck said.

Besides lobbying for legislative action, Mrs. Buck also wants to make parents aware of the risks of food-borne illness.

"Parents need to be aware," she said. "Most don’t know it comes from cows. It gets onto the meat when the cow is slaughtered. The burden is on the people who cook it."

E coli doesn’t just hide out in meat. It can get into manure used to fertilize fruits and vegetables. People should also be aware that visiting petting zoos can pose a risk for E coli infection, especially if people touch the animals and then engage in hand-to-mouth activity, such as smoking or eating, Mrs. Buck said.

People in high risk groups, such as young children and the elderly, are most susceptible to infection. A 1991 report from the Centers for Disease Control states that all but the most well-cooked hamburger may still contain E coli, and the consumption of insufficiently cooked ground beef can cause serious illness, especially in children and the elderly.

"Children under 5 are in a major risk group for complications from E Coli," Mrs. Buck said. "It has to become a more publicized fact. It should be as common as seat belt safety, but it’s not."